It’s 12:32 p.m. and Martha Barbee is running late. She’s adjusting to a new schedule as an appointed member of the Redondo Beach City Council.

Her day began with meetings at 9, 10, 11:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. with a newspaper reporter, and then off to city staff meetings all afternoon. She also squeezed in a session in Torrance with a photographer who took a photo to hang in council chambers.

“I’m basically going through baptism by fire trying to understand, dig into issues, and understand as much as I possibly can in a quick amount of time,” she said.

Along with regular meetings with City Manager Joe Hoefgen, Barbee has been talking with residents of her beach district to catch up.

Dr. Michele Evans, one of Barbee’s longtime friends, said she was excited when Barbee was considering applying for the council seat.

“She’s so honest and to the point, she was like, ‘I’m not sure how this goes in politics,’ ” Evans said. “I said it’s probably really refreshing to hear someone say what’s on their mind. She’s very thoughtful.”

Thoughtful mediator and mother

When it comes to the issues, Barbee insists it’s important to understand the feelings and views on both sides.

“In the waterfront, like everyone else, we feel strongly about revitalizing it and making it better. What that exact solution will be, it’s premature for me to say,” she said.

The mother of four children, one already out of the house with a child of her own, Barbee has always been busy. She volunteers with the 33rd District of the California State PTA, which helps with nearly 20 individual PTAs, and served on the historic commission for Redondo Beach. As her sons were growing up — they are now 17, 16 and 13 — she helped with baseball. Her oldest, a daughter, is 29, and recently moved back to Redondo Beach.

Barbee has been on either end of the mommy culture wars. While raising her daughter, she worked full time and traveled a lot. With her three sons, she’s been able to work as a stay-at-home mom, serving on boards. She said she can think of pros and cons to both lifestyles, but hopes she has done both well.

Timing was right

When her now 17-year-old son had an internship last summer in Washington, D.C., with a senator, the family was able to spend a chunk of its summer in the nation’s capital.

“A few years ago, (a council seat) would have been something I would not have made my priority. Two, three years ago is when I got involved on a couple of boards,” she said. “This was actually a really good time for me to enter a new phase and do different things.”

And this summer, her boys are busy. Her eldest son is in Sacramento working in the state Capitol. Her middle son is spending two days a week at Aerospace Corp. Her youngest is at basketball camp.

Barbee said, as a parent, she tries to teach by example. As a refugee from Cuba who came to the United States at 9 years old, Barbee takes great pride in the act of voting.

Eager to learn English

“Coming from another country where voting is a privilege — where being able to decide to take a leadership role in the community, it’s not something that would ever happen — I have been very conscious of taking those kids with me in the voting booth and handing them the point so they can do it,” she said.

When her family arrived in the United States, her father wanted to get away from the Cuban community in Miami so he turned to Southern California. He wanted to assimilate into the culture — and learn English, fast.

Barbee took those same lessons into her young life, too. Though schools did have English-language transition classes, commonly referred to as ESOL, Barbee refused. She was in fourth grade at the time.

“It was somewhat of a challenge at first, but I was determined to learn the language and pretty much do it by immersion,” she said. “By the end of my first year in fourth grade, I had won the spelling bee.”

Barbee’s first official council meeting will be Tuesday. She plans to keep a District 1 community meeting that was immensely popular under her predecessor, Jeff Ginsberg.

“The most exciting part has been the refreshing feeling through the community of hearing a uniting voice for their issues,” she said. “There’s a feeling of peace and hopefulness of an agreement.”

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